Wondering if I should write out all the main rules on flash cards tomorrow or whether I should just continue with what I'm doing.

I am mainly focusing on doing as many practice questions as I can. I'm also focusing on memorizing black letter law for some of the essay topics. I feel like at this point it is just do what will help you get it in your brain. If that's flash cards then do those. For me, I like to write the black letter law from memorization, I need the pen to paper moment. So, at night before I go to bed I pick out a few subjects and write the black letter law I remember on a notepad because that is what I did in law school and I'm hoping it works here too. Good luck!

Does any one know if spelling counts against us? I'm sure its annoying to the graders, but surely they can't deduct points? I'm a terrible speller & dyslexic, so I depend on spell check quite a bit. Spell check is disabled for laptop testers. I do the best the I can... At least they'll be able to read my mistakes clearly!

vandyclark wrote:Does any one know if spelling counts against us? I'm sure its annoying to the graders, but surely they can't deduct points? I'm a terrible speller & dyslexic, so I depend on spell check quite a bit. Spell check is disabled for laptop testers. I do the best the I can... At least they'll be able to read my mistakes clearly!

Spelling is not counted against. Unless you literally have something like "d;alfkjd;lfkja;dlkfja;dlkfksgfwe;oh." I'm sure if they understand what you're saying and what you mean, you'll be good to go.

vandyclark wrote:Does any one know if spelling counts against us? I'm sure its annoying to the graders, but surely they can't deduct points? I'm a terrible speller & dyslexic, so I depend on spell check quite a bit. Spell check is disabled for laptop testers. I do the best the I can... At least they'll be able to read my mistakes clearly!

Spelling is not counted against. Unless you literally have something like "d;alfkjd;lfkja;dlkfja;dlkfksgfwe;oh." I'm sure if they understand what you're saying and what you mean, you'll be good to go.

Quick P&E tip- Apparently there's a new examiner in charge of the criminal P&E section. The last was there for 10 years. The new examiner has written the last 2 criminal P&E I think (possibly 3), so the trends we see in earlier exams may not be there any more. Every examiner seems to have their favorite topics to cover. Just a heads up to make sure you review the last couple.

vandyclark wrote:Quick P&E tip- Apparently there's a new examiner in charge of the criminal P&E section. The last was there for 10 years. The new examiner has written the last 2 criminal P&E I think (possibly 3), so the trends we see in earlier exams may not be there any more. Every examiner seems to have their favorite topics to cover. Just a heads up to make sure you review the last couple.

From what I hear the new examiner is big on evidence. One of the July takers warned me of this.

vandyclark wrote:Quick P&E tip- Apparently there's a new examiner in charge of the criminal P&E section. The last was there for 10 years. The new examiner has written the last 2 criminal P&E I think (possibly 3), so the trends we see in earlier exams may not be there any more. Every examiner seems to have their favorite topics to cover. Just a heads up to make sure you review the last couple.

From what I hear the new examiner is big on evidence. One of the July takers warned me of this.

Yes. This. I scored in the 19th percentile for Crim section in the last July bar. And there were 6 evidence questions when it used to be just 1-2 towards the end mostly about just hearsay. I mostly relied on my evidence knowledge from MBE studying and didn't pay attention to TX evidence. Most of the rote questions were not asked either. But the good thing is that they've started to put out full answers for the P&E, instead of just saying "most examiners got this wrong" and not explaining why. Maybe that's the new examiner's thing too. +1 for reviewing the last couple exams.

vandyclark wrote:Quick P&E tip- Apparently there's a new examiner in charge of the criminal P&E section. The last was there for 10 years. The new examiner has written the last 2 criminal P&E I think (possibly 3), so the trends we see in earlier exams may not be there any more. Every examiner seems to have their favorite topics to cover. Just a heads up to make sure you review the last couple.

From what I hear the new examiner is big on evidence. One of the July takers warned me of this.

Yes. This. I scored in the 19th percentile for Crim section in the last July bar. And there were 6 evidence questions when it used to be just 1-2 towards the end mostly about just hearsay. I mostly relied on my evidence knowledge from MBE studying and didn't pay attention to TX evidence. Most of the rote questions were not asked either. But the good thing is that they've started to put out full answers for the P&E, instead of just saying "most examiners got this wrong" and not explaining why. Maybe that's the new examiner's thing too. +1 for reviewing the last couple exams.

Just got my admissions ticket. Does anyone know if the ticket has to be printed in color? I'm just wondering since it has our picture on it, and I'll have to go somewhere special to have it printed in color.

LSBound2017 wrote:Just got my admissions ticket. Does anyone know if the ticket has to be printed in color? I'm just wondering since it has our picture on it, and I'll have to go somewhere special to have it printed in color.

I got mine too. Pretty sure you don't need to print in color. They make you bring a photo ID for a reason. I'm printing mine with the "save toner" option. Heh.

I'm doing around 6-7 hours a day, I seem to switch off after that. Perhaps I'll try for 8-9 next few days.

I'm staying at a hotel within walking distance from the center although I'm not sure if it is feesibly walkable in terms of sidewalks etc. Anyway, will check it out Sunday when I arrive. Driving down from Fort Worth.

Just a heads up to those taking the exam for the first time. On the first day of testing in July my computer froze up at the start for about 5~ minutes, and there were several people that I could see who had computer issues, including the person immediately next to me. This completely stunned me and set me into a panic because I was not expecting any computer issues to occur. If you do have a computer issue, the proctors are quick to accommodate with a testing book. Try not to let a computer issue affect your ability to focus like it did to me, as you will not lose much time, if any at all.

pitted wrote:Just a heads up to those taking the exam for the first time. On the first day of testing in July my computer froze up at the start for about 5~ minutes, and there were several people that I could see who had computer issues, including the person immediately next to me. This completely stunned me and set me into a panic because I was not expecting any computer issues to occur. If you do have a computer issue, the proctors are quick to accommodate with a testing book. Try not to let a computer issue affect your ability to focus like it did to me, as you will not lose much time, if any at all.

Thanks for the heads up! This would have been very disconcerting if I weren't forewarned! I appreciate it.

Can any of you give me the answer to a P&E question? This is driving me crazy. Feb 2015 Crim, Questions 7 and 8Q7. How many days before the pretrial hearing must you file your motion for discovery? What consequences are there, if any, if you fail to file the discovery motion by that time?

Q8. [Is the Prosecutor required] to take any action in response to [a request to review a witness'] written statement?

Thank you in advance! I cannot, for the life of me, find an answer to these two questions.

Feb17TBE wrote:Can any of you give me the answer to a P&E question? This is driving me crazy. Feb 2015 Crim, Questions 7 and 8Q7. How many days before the pretrial hearing must you file your motion for discovery? What consequences are there, if any, if you fail to file the discovery motion by that time?

Q8. [Is the Prosecutor required] to take any action in response to [a request to review a witness'] written statement?

Thank you in advance! I cannot, for the life of me, find an answer to these two questions.

I can *try* and help! Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong, though! I don't want to be giving out bad information!!

7. I believe the answer is seven (7) days prior to the pretrial hearing, much like the majority of pretrial motions. If they fail to meet this deadline, you're essentially waiving your right to make requests for discovery absent a showing of good cause as to why you missed the deadline.

8. The Prosecutor is required to allow the defense to review the witness' written statement, regardless of whether it is exculpatory. The Prosecutor must allow the defense to review the statement as well as make a photocopy of it.

For those using their laptops for the exam -- does anyone know how uploading our exam works? Is there an internet connection at Palmer, and our exams are automatically uploaded at the end of the testing session? Or is there no internet/are we responsible for going somewhere else that has internet connection and uploading them before the deadline? Thanks!

LSBound2017 wrote:For those using their laptops for the exam -- does anyone know how uploading our exam works? Is there an internet connection at Palmer, and our exams are automatically uploaded at the end of the testing session? Or is there no internet/are we responsible for going somewhere else that has internet connection and uploading them before the deadline? Thanks!

LSBound2017 wrote:For those using their laptops for the exam -- does anyone know how uploading our exam works? Is there an internet connection at Palmer, and our exams are automatically uploaded at the end of the testing session? Or is there no internet/are we responsible for going somewhere else that has internet connection and uploading them before the deadline? Thanks!

Last year there was no internet connection at the Palmer. Don't worry, the proctors will give you an upload deadline each day for your exam. If I remember correctly, the MPT/PE had to be uploaded by 4pm and the essays had to uploaded by 10pm. Just make sure you go back home/hotel and upload asap.

LSBound2017 wrote:For those using their laptops for the exam -- does anyone know how uploading our exam works? Is there an internet connection at Palmer, and our exams are automatically uploaded at the end of the testing session? Or is there no internet/are we responsible for going somewhere else that has internet connection and uploading them before the deadline? Thanks!

Last year there was no internet connection at the Palmer. Don't worry, the proctors will give you an upload deadline each day for your exam. If I remember correctly, the MPT/PE had to be uploaded by 4pm and the essays had to uploaded by 10pm. Just make sure you go back home/hotel and upload asap.

Even if you forget to upload by that deadline, they'll send you a gazillion emails reminding you to as soon as you miss the deadline. Yes, I know because that was me last time. It's gonna happen on the last day. But that it not to say that you shouldn't bother. You'll feel a weight off your shoulders and you'll go out and drink or you'll simply get home and pass out on the bedroom floor. As SOON as you get to a wifi signal, upload your answer. Because you WILL get a mini-heart attack the second you see that reminder email at 3am and have a panic attack that you're gonna fail because they never got your answer. Set up a reminder on your phone for 6:00pm to upload.

favrefire4 wrote:While we are on the subject of circumstances surrounding test day, I have a couple of questions myself.

1) Is there an area where we can store "prohibited items?" I'd prefer to bring my phone in case of an emergency and leave it outside of the secure area if possible.

2) What are the options like for lunch? Should we plan on bringing lunch with us? Where would we keep it?

Thanks!!

The "secure area" is basically the exam hall. You're not allowed to bring any phones or any other prohibited items inside the hall. They'll let you in with just your ID and your ticket - along with laptop, highlighters, pens/pencils/eraser on Day 1 & 3; only pencils and eraser on Day 2 - no sharpeners, so bring a shit ton of pre-sharpened pencils. The ones they give you there go blunt in like two questions. Useless.) You can bring pretty much anything else and leave it in your backpack just outside the hall. Also don't bring ear plugs. They'll give you a pair. I think you're also allowed to bring medication but it has to be taken out of the pill container or something like that.

For lunch, pack your own. Keep it in your backpack. More stress-free that way IMO.